This Chettinad Biryani recipe is a spicy, flavorful, vegetarian one made with fragrant basmati rice, fresh button mushrooms, flavorful spices, tangy yogurt and creamy coconut milk. The recipe requires only one pot and is made in less than forty five minutes!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Chettinad, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (200 grams) basmati rice ((heaped) - or use seeraga samba or kaima rice)
  • 1 teaspoon ghee (- for marinating rice)
  • ¼ cup mint leaves (- chopped)
  • ¼ cup coriander leaves (- chopped (cilantro))
  • 3 to 4 green chilies
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves (- small to medium-sized, peeled)
  • 1 inch ginger (- peeled)
  • ½ to 1 tablespoon water
  • 200 to 250 grams white button mushrooms (- quartered or sliced)
  • 3 tablespoons curd ((yogurt))
  • ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (or cayenne pepper)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder ((ground coriander))
  • 2 to 2.5 tablespoons oil (- any neutral tasting oil or coconut oil)
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • 3 to 4 cloves
  • 6 to 7 black peppercorns
  • 1 tej patta (- medium to large-sized (Indian bay leaf))
  • 2 thin single strands of mace (- optional)
  • 1 stone flower (- tiny piece, (dagad phool or pathar phool) - optional)
  • 2 kapok buds ((marathi moggu) - optional)
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • ¾ to 1 cup (100 grams) onions (- thinly sliced)
  • ½ cup (80 grams) tomatoes (- chopped)
  • ½ to 1 cup water (or add as required)
  • 1 cup Coconut Milk (- thick, can use lite coconut milk)
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves (- chopped or 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves)

Method

Soaking Rice

  1. First rinse rice very well in water for a couple of times. Then soak the rice in water for 20 to 30 minutes.
  2. After 20 to 30 minutes, drain the water from the rice grains. Add 1 teaspoon ghee to the soaked rice.
  3. Mix and coat the rice with ghee very well and allow to marinate for 10 to 15 minutes. Instead of marinating, you can also sauté the rice in ghee lightly in a pan on low heat.

Preparing Veggies

  1. When you keep the rice for soaking, prep the remaining ingredients. First rinse or wipe dry and then quarter or slice the mushrooms. Transfer them to a mixing bowl and set aside.
  2. Slice thinly the onions. Chop the tomato. Also chop the green chilies, garlic cloves and ginger. Chop mint and coriander leaves as well.

Making Green Paste

  1. In a small grinder or chutney grinder, take the chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies, garlic and ginger.
  2. Add ½ to 1 tablespoon water or as required. Blend to a smooth paste.

Marinating With Green Paste

  1. Add this ground green paste with the curd to the chopped mushrooms.
  2. Sprinkle turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder.
  3. Gently mix all the ingredients. Cover and set aside to marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.

Sautéing Aromatics

  1. Heat 2 to 2.5 tbsp oil in a thick bottomed pot or pan. Add the whole spices and fry them for a few seconds or until they are fragrant.
  2. Then add the sliced onions. Mix very well and sauté them on a low to medium heat. Add a pinch of salt for quick cooking of the onions.
  3. Stir often and sauté until the onions become golden.
  4. Add tomatoes. Stir and sauté the tomatoes for about 2 minutes.
  5. Add the marinated mushrooms. Mix very well and sauté them for 6 to 7 minutes or until they shrink and you see oil specks on top.
  6. In the bowl here will be some marinade left. Add 1 cup water and mix the marinade with the water.
  7. Add water as required depending on quality of rice. You can add from ½ to 1 cup water. I used organic basmati rice, so I added 1 cup of water.
  8. Add this marinade mixed water to the mushrooms in the pan. Also add 1 cup coconut milk. Mix very well.
  9. Season with salt and stir. On a medium heat bring the mixture to a boil.

Making Chettinad Biryani

  1. Then add the ghee coated rice. Mix again gently.
  2. Cover the pot or pan with a lid. Check once or twice when rice is cooking.
  3. On a medium-low heat cook until the rice grains are tender and soft.
  4. It took me 12 minutes for the rice to cook. Depending on the thickness and depth of pan, quality of rice and flame intensity, it can take about 10 to 12 minutes to cook rice.
  5. Once the rice grains are tender, cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving Chettinad Biryani. Then gently fluff the rice with a fork.

Serving & Storage

  1. Garnish with mint or coriander leaves and serve Chettinad Biryani with a side salad or raita of your choice.
  2. Any leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for one day. Keep the biryani in a covered container.
  3. While reheating, either sauté until warm or hot in a skillet or steam for 5 minutes in a pot or an Instant Pot.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.